Johnathan Thurston walked a fine line when he told the referees to "take control" - and then heeded his own advice - as the Cowboys' superstar put Laurie Daley and NSW on notice, almost single handedly skinning the Eels on his return from injury.
Queensland's master string-puller, playing with a shoulder being held together by nothing more, emphatically proved his fitness for State of Origin II as the Blues brace for the return of Thurston and Storm wizard Billy Slater for the ANZ Stadium showdown on Wednesday week.
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Thurston fantastic as Cowboys thrash Eels
After firing up following a late Kenny Edwards hit, Johnathan Thurston was masterful in his return for North Queensland, as his side trounced Parramatta 32-6.
Incensed with a late hit by Kenny Edwards mid-way through the first half, Thurston waded into dangerous waters after admonishing referee Adam Gee "to take control, mate".
Parramatta wished Thurston, playing just his second game in as many months, didn't take a leaf out of that book as he danced over himself and laid on three other tries, bagging 16 points as the Cowboys routed the Eels 32-6 at Darwin's TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
Thurston was a clear points winner over the similarly fit-again Corey Norman, himself jockeying to be next in line in Kevin Walters' Queensland halves puzzle after Anthony Milford suffered a dislocated shoulder in the Broncos' win over the Rabbitohs on Friday night. Milford faces up to six weeks out and will play no further part in the Origin series.
Walters' viewing from the commentary box was the most comfortable he has had in weeks with Thurston certain to ride into Sydney as the Maroons' great white hope of saving a crumbling Origin dynasty.
If his immediate influence on the Cowboys mirrors that on Queensland then NSW will do well to ensure the Origin series returns to Suncorp Stadium next month for a dead rubber.
"I got a couple of late hits which wasn't expected, but it [the shoulder] has come through OK so I'm pretty happy," Thurston told Fox Sports.
"I haven't had too much of a chat [with Walters] since the first game, but no doubt that will probably ramp up over the next couple of days. We've got a lot of hard work to do in that arena. The Blues certainly outmuscled us and played a lot better in game one."
His Cowboys teammate Coen Hess - who bizarrely echoed his coach Paul Green's comments last week claiming he might not be ready for Origin - did his chances of a Queensland debut no harm as the Cowboys looked every bit the premiership fancies many have touted them to be.
Hess bagged his 10th try of the season off a sweetly-timed Thurston ball as the Cowboys ran riot in the Top End, who primarily leant their support to the 2015 premiers despite the match being an Eels home game.
"He's handled everything that's been thrown at him," Thurston said of Hess. "If he's required to play 20 to 30 minutes in that arena I think he can handle it. I'm sure if he gets his opportunity he won't let anyone down."
The Thurston-Norman comebacks, the former wearing No.19 and latter No.21, overshadowed the pre-game hype and there was only one winner in the early stages as the Eels' Dally M Medal contender also played second fiddle to Mitchell Moses, who briefly looked the part in blue and gold.
Moses was involved in perhaps the most contentious moment of the first half when just minutes after Thurston railed against the Eels' tactics of hitting him late, Hess ragdolled Parramatta's No.7 with a bone-jarring hit following a kick.
The Cowboys were granted a penalty for Nathan Brown's retaliation on Hess and Thurston ballooned a kick over Semi Radradra a few tackles later for Feldt to grab his second.
Earlier the club's spiritual leader had floated a kick short of Radradra which Feldt pounced on to open the scoring and when Thurston booted an after-the-siren penalty the Cowboys had a 14-point buffer at half-time.
The 34-year-old needed all of five minutes in the second stanza to jink through some flimsy Eels defence close to the line before Hess shadowed the ball magnet to grab one of his own and Antonio Winterstein piled on the pain.
The man likely to be in the Queensland firing line to accommodate Slater's inclusion, Justin O'Neill, was solid enough but is long odds to retain his place in Sydney.
North Queensland Cowboys 32 (Kyle Feldt 2, Johnathan Thurston, Coen Hess, Antonio Winterstein tries; Johnathan Thurston 6 goals) defeated Parramatta Eels 6 (Brad Takairangi try; Clint Gutherson goal) at TIO Stadium. Referees: Adam Gee, Gavin Reynolds. Crowd: 11,968.
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